TheSamba.com :: View topic - Jetta dome light in a Vanagon (update July 18)

Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:36 pm

got a dome light out of Jetta (mid to late 80's) today at the wrecking yard,the kind that stays on for xx amount of seconds before going off. it has two brown wires,two red wires and one brown/white wire. I wired the same colored wires from the dome light to the same colored wires in my 85 Vanagon. the light works when the door is closed and you slide the switch to the up position. I then slide the switch to the down position. the light works when you open the door. the problem is when you close the door it goes off immediatly. it should stay on for xx amount of seconds before going off. could it be the diode that controls that function is bad? any advice,pointers would be great. thanks.

Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:31 pm

I don't think any 80's Jettas had delay-off lights. That should have come with the A3 platform in 1993, and not on all models. Is there any circuitry built into the light, or just contacts for bulb & wires?

Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:58 pm

Yeah there is a printed circuit board on the light its self that provides the delay.... I haven't had my hands on one in a while though.

Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:13 pm

Go here: http://www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/

Click on the Electrical tab

Select the inside lights sub-heading

Has everything you need to know about wiring this light. Worked well for me. Now, it does sound like you have a different light though...

Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:24 pm

vanaguy wrote: Is there any circuitry built into the light

Yes. it may be a early 90's model,I didn't really pay attention.

Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:30 pm

1621 wrote: Go here: http://www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/

Click on the Electrical tab

Select the inside lights sub-heading

Has everything you need to know about wiring this light. Worked well for me. Now, it does sound like you have a different light though...

not the same light I have. mine looks just like the one that came in the Vanagon,but with some circuitry attached to it.

Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:58 pm

it does say Hella on the front,on the left in the second pic (out of focus). I took the plug off that had the wires coming off of it. two red,two brown and one brown/white.

I'm thinking the diode or whatever circuitry is in there is shot from sitting in the wrecking yard for years.

Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:08 pm

I don't believe that there is a brown/white wire on the stock configuration. That should be connected from the lamp to a ground to allow a complete circuit after the initial ground connection has been removed (door shut, or light turned off).

Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:54 pm

Bruce Wayne wrote: it does say Hella on the front,on the left in the second pic (out of focus). I took the plug off that had the wires coming off of it. two red,two brown and one brown/white.

I'm thinking the diode or whatever circuitry is in there is shot from sitting in the wrecking yard for years.

Yeah, that looks like the version I installed in my van. I think it's plug n' play, except that you need the wire coupler from the Jetta light along with a few extra inches of wire to splice it back in there.

Fri Jul 17, 2009 9:23 am

after examining the light more,there appears to be a little "burn' mark by the circuitry. I'm thinking the delay funtion of this light is toast. next time I will pay more attention.

Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:33 pm

The lamp has power into it (red), and the circuit is complete when grounded through either one of the brown wires. One ground is on the door switch. The other is to the ground block behind the fuses, when the lamp switch is in the always on position. When both of those ciruits are not complete, e.g. switch off and door closed, there is no ground to complete the circuit for the delay. That is why the brown/white wire should be connected to a permanent ground. Not until those connections are correct, can you know if it is a wiring issue, or a defective part.

Fri Jul 17, 2009 9:47 pm

GreenMachineVW wrote: The lamp has power into it (red), and the circuit is complete when grounded through either one of the brown wires. One ground is on the door switch. The other is to the ground block behind the fuses, when the lamp switch is in the always on position. When both of those circuits are not complete, e.g. switch off and door closed, there is no ground to complete the circuit for the delay. That is why the brown/white wire should be connected to a permanent ground. Not until those connections are correct, can you know if it is a wiring issue, or a defective part.

?????
so I hook the red wire from the lamp to the red wire to the van,brown from the lamp to the brown wire to the van and the brown/white from the light to the frame or some other ground?
what about the brown/white wire from the van?

Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:06 am

Sorry, I misread and thought the brown/white wire was from the lamp. I do not have one of these, but the principle remains the same: there must be a permanent connection to ground from the lamp, a connection to the ground when shutting the door (the door switch), and a connection to ground when alluminating the lamp using the switch on the lamp (the connection to the ground block). The stock configuration has 2 ground connects, and you will need a third so that the delay function can have a complete circuit to ground. It is, of course, possible that the lamp already uses the one connection to ground for the delay function ground as well, and you simple have a burnt out component. My hypothosis was reached assuming that there was a non-connected ground wire on the lamp itself. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Sat Jul 18, 2009 7:16 am

Here's the dome light diagram for 86+ vans. I used it in a thread from earlier this year.

As GreenMachineWV said, the lights get 12v at all times. What turns them on is when (if) they are grounded. The three way switch has three options.

1) Ground to chassis (red wire)
2) Ground to nothing (brown wire)
2) Ground to any of the door switches (brown/white white).... (the one I highlighted red in the photo)

Sat Jul 18, 2009 2:03 pm

new light,new result! got another light from the wrecking yard today and it worked. I actually bought 3 for ten bucks. plug and play. simple and nice upgrade. all three interior lights now stay on about 5 seconds after I close the door. it fits much better than the original too. the original always seemed to work loose and hang down a bit. thanks to Zeitgeist13 for the idea.

Sun Jul 19, 2009 7:23 pm

Great tip! Two questions:

1) What year Jetta lights worked?

2) o they use the SAME bulb? I have LED bulbs at rather significant cost.... Also wonder how long an LED bulb takes to drain it. Well this would be a cool test!

Sun Jul 19, 2009 9:04 pm

Sodo wrote: Great tip! Two questions:

1) What year Jetta lights worked?

2) do they use the SAME bulb? I have LED bulbs at rather significant cost.... Also wonder how long an LED bulb takes to drain it. Well this would be a cool test!

1. not sure. they look very similar to the stock vanagon light but with the circuitry built in for the delay.

2. yes.
you may want to rethink the led's though.of the four led bulbs I got,2 burned out in a month and another just flickers when you put it in. superbright sent me one new one. it and the one good one from my original four are in the back by the bed. they are just not cost effective in opinion if they need replaced every month.any other good source for them besides superbright? no problems with the ones I got for the dash.

Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:40 pm

hmmmm.... my LED bulbs are from superbrightleds and have worked for 10 months. And they put out twice the light of the incandescent bulbs, I've been pretty happy with them, but I recall it costing something like $60 for four bulbs, they'd better last a few years. Here's the thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3239754#3239754

But that's a different topic. I like this thread too! I'll go to the junkyard and look at some of those Jetta domelights.

Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:03 am

yeah I just priced four bulbs from their site again, $35.
there has got to be a better source.

Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:31 pm

I mentioned this on another thread last week. I've got the GW wireless entry system installed (power locks of course). Part of the system is an option to hook in your overhead lights...when you press the remote button to unlock your VW, the interior lights come on - and stay on for 30-seconds. The lights will also turn off before the 30-seconds are up if you start the engine before the interval is over.